March 31, 2002
A group of girls at
A group of girls at the airport, looks like a soccer team, complete with Soccer Mom chaperone. A few of them headed a glittery rubber ball amongst themselves. One was wearing a North Carolina sweatshirt.March 29, 2002
Mom replaced the garbage cans
Mom replaced the garbage cans in the house with Step Cans, which have the lid that pop open when you step on the pedal. Actually, I don't know for sure that mom's the one responsible for this change, but I think this is a safe assumption, kinda like how Gammons assumed that Pedro is a key for the Red Sox. I can just picture her wheeling a shopping cartful of the little buggers out of Target.
The step cans are spiff and all. I mean, I could be entertained for minutes at a time just watching the lids pop open as I step on them. On the other hand, I can't blow my nose, then turn and fire the Kleenex in for the buzzer-beating game-winner. And now that allergy season is coming, this is a significant source of amusement for me. Life can be hard.
March 27, 2002
Travel's Travails
The crowd on a morning flight is usually a diverse mix. First in line are the pros. Suits and tie, blazers and wingtips, laptop case in tow, gunning for a top-30 Southwest boarding pass so they can be the first ones on and off. There are the family folk. Jeans and sweatshirt, carrying a duffel bag. Some have the kids along, or god forbid, the babies (although I no longer fear the airplane baby, thanks to the magic of Etymotic). The cell phone is on continuously, informing the loved ones of their progress, or lack thereof.
Then there are the students, this being Spring Break and all. Most of them bailed during the weekend, if not sooner, so it's just a few stragglers at this point. They might have a book, if they don't have a friend with them. The other notable being that this group has more cute girls.
This being San Diego, there's usually a Marine or a squid or two. They wear uniforms.
The worst part about traveling while sick: I couldn't make my right ear pop, so the pressure just kep building all through the descent. Ouch. That's why I like to fly while dead tired. Yawning is my most effective way of equalizing ear pressure.
Stuff I forgot to pack:
- Sunglasses
- Firewire cable for the iPod
- The extra ADB mouse for the PB1400
- More to come I'm sure...
March 26, 2002
Why Peter Gammons is a Genius
"Peter writes that a healthy Pedro is key for Boston."
Now that's a revelation
March 24, 2002
brown The daschound'smournfuleyes. liquid
| brown | ||
| The daschound's | mournful | eyes. |
| liquid |
March 22, 2002
Happy Easter
There's a bunny that lives in the hedges around the mini-mall. I always thought that the rabbit was the luckiest creature alive. There's a dense hedge for shelter, surrounded by a manicured (and tasty) lawn. When I walk by, it's sitting on the lawn munching away, watching the rush-hour traffic go by. And what did I see when I walked by today? Another bunny! How cute is that?
March 18, 2002
A Breakfast Story
Okay, the Krispy Kreme glazed donuts seemed to have survived their time in the freezer. A few seconds in the microwave and the dough in the donuts taste good as new. Unfortunately, the glaze seem to have dessicated in the freezer, so the glaze layer turned into a solid crust of sugar which fell apart in chunks. Next time I'll have to try the toaster oven instead of the microwave, or put a layer of plastic wrap over the donuts before I freeze them. Or maybe I should just find a better donut shop.
That first sip of coffee out of the little hole in the plastic lid is a little skip of faith. You are never quite sure whether you'll get burned. And going through the day with a burnt tongue is one of those insignificant annoyances in life that drives you nuts, right up there with damp socks.
March 17, 2002
After subsisting on a single
After subsisting on a single English muffin the previous day (admittedly, I did sleep for most of the day, but still), I figured that I deserved a big breakfast. Went down to the local Jewish deli/restaurant, or what passes for a Jewish deli in San Diego, anyway. Although there are usually nicely dressed folk in yarmulkes in the area on Sabbath, thanks to the Jewish temple in La Jolla, so they do a good business. I was going to get the Spanish omlette, but the waitress reommended the Tex-Mex special, so I went with that. It was good, but the only thing Tex Mex about it was the extra pieces of avocado and the fresh salsa on the side. The actual omellete itself was a pretty ordinary bacon and cheese omellete.
In a Jewish deli.
Right around Passover time.
I'm going straight to Hell when I die, aren't I?
They were also advertising St. Patrick's day specials. Let's hear it for multiculturalism. At least they weren't selling green bagels like the grocery store. Some things are just too blasphemous to contemplate.
March 14, 2002
How low has my faith
How low has my faith in humanity fallen? I was actually quite impressed when the dude taking my beef-veggie bowl order could recalculate change on the fly when I found a quarter in my pocket, so he had $5.25 to pay for the $4.04 order instead of $5.00, even after he already punched $5.00 into the cash register. I dropped the 21 cents of change into the tip jar. And don't you hate it when you buy something and come up just over a round dollar amount, so you end up with almost a dollar in random change?March 13, 2002
Saw a Frontline documentary about
Saw a Frontline documentary about the American pornography husiness. Most of the material was surprisingly pedestrian. Porn is a big business, big corps make lots of money carrying porn, yada yada yada. They even dragged Larry Flint out for the obligatory mumbly interviews.
However, there was one segment where they followed an extreme porn film shoot featuring semi-simulated beating and gang-rape of a semi-consensual "star." The telling point was when the Frontline camera crew was disgusted enough to leave rather than keep filming. The lack of footage was more convincing than anything else that porn is still a Bad Thing. Although the interviews featuring the condescending anti-porn prosecutor made the alternative sound just as unappetizing.
March 11, 2002
Bracket Racket
This year should be proof that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is a good show regardless of how they pair the teams. There'll be upsets, great finishes, and the overwhelming feeling of watching at least 16 do-or-die games in one weekend, but the bracketing really blows. As usual, the mid-majors and the western teams get screwed. Then you have Gonzaga, who's a western mid-major, so they really take it deep with a 6th seed and a second-round game with Arizona. And UA can't be happy with that draw, either, despite getting a 3 in the west. Two Pac-10 teams are stuck in 8-9 limbo, and even Cal with a 6 has to travel across the country to play Penn and maybe Pitt in Pittsburgh. People are going to lose their shirts trying to bet this thing, and I'm not even playing the freebie pick-the-bracket games. Yuck.
March 10, 2002
Jamba Juice is good for
Jamba Juice is good for those occasions when I've been eating badly for a few days and need a quick shot of fruits and vitamins. Although, if you look at the ingredient list closely, most of the smoothies are still sugar and junk from the frozen yogurts and sherbets. They also tend to have cute girls working behind the counters.
I did notice that Jamba has given up on the soups. Thus ends their attempt at selling something edible when the temperature is less than 60 degrees, which isn't too often in San Diego, lucky for them.
March 09, 2002
Today's Schedule CBS: 4 games
Today's Schedule
CBS: 4 games
ESPN: 7 games
ESPN2: 5 games
A guy can almost make a full-time job out of predicting the precise bracketing of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The paradox is that as we get closer to Selection Sunday with a crescendo of games and stats, the whole guessing game become more and more anti-climactic, since the real deal is coming in less than 24 hours anyway. The tension of knowing yet not knowing. There are a lot of teams rooting against Iowa in the Big Ten championship game tomorrow, that's for sure.
March 06, 2002
Did my civic duty and
Did my civic duty and voted. Wished that I hadn't registered as a Democrat, since the Democratic primary ballot was pretty dull. I mean, Gray Davis? Although I guess I might as well as vote for someone who represents the Dull Constituency. Looks like the conservative Republicans got what they wanted anyway, so there was no need for me to vote strategically anyway. The thought of "be careful what you wish for" did cross my mind, but I think it applies to both sides. We'll see in November.
It was hard to make a decision on the local offices based on only the statements in the voter's pamphlet. I should've taken a look at their websites, but my sense of civic responsibility only went so far. All the propositions were either boring or flat out silly. Yes on the environment and education, and no for everything else.
A couple of little old ladies ran the polling place in the next apartment complex over. I wonder how many chad jokes they had to listen to throughout the day.
March 05, 2002
Overheard
"Small, non-fat mocha!"
"Right here. Thanks."
"Want whip cream on that?"
"Um, sure."
March 03, 2002
Slashdot is going to a
Slashdot is going to a subscription model. This is after Salon and The Motley Fool have also gone to a pay-to-play system, and that's just out of the sites that I browse. All of them also happen to be in a downward spiral toward digital oblivion. So much for Internet communities. Different topics, different hit rates, different audiences, same result. Probably because all these bulletin boards always end up either as circle jerks or flame-fests, and it all ends up as white noise anyway.
On the other hand, the Freepathon is going well. So I guess some types of zealotry still pays.